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Terry “Tito” Francona rose to prominence in 2004 when he managed the Boston Red Sox to the team’s first championship since 1918. Born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania (thirty miles north of Pittsburgh), Francona has spent much of his life in organized baseball. He played collegiate baseball at the University of Arizona, helping the Wildcats win the 1980 College World Series and getting named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Just one year later, he was in the Major Leagues, where he played for ten seasons. In 1997, he embarked on his first managerial stint, spending four years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Then, from 2004 to 2011, he managed the Red Sox and led them to two World Series Championships (2004 & 2007). In 2013, Francona became the Cleveland Indians manager and is currently facing fellow Italian-American Manager Joe Maddon and his Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series. The Indians have not won the World Series since 1948, the second-longest drought in Major League Baseball (second only to the Cubs).